As a first-hand witness to the power of adoption, Jeremy Del Rio knows that failing public schools and students can be changed with some intervention. That’s why he helped found the 20/20 Vision for Schools last year with The Coalition of Urban Youth Workers, a regional network of youth specialists. The seeds for the initiative were planted when Del Rio’s Generation Xcel youth group teamed with the Southern Baptists to paint some local schools in a summer community service project, which opened a door with school administrators.

The New York City Leadership Center has embraced 20/20 as its first initiative, and brought together representatives from the Church, business, education, and political arenas for its “Leadership Conversation.” The consortium sought to find strategies and solutions regarding urban education, specifically in New York City, as it heard from various national experts and made recommendations that will enhance the “20/20 Vision Adopt-A-School” program.

“This is a time of urgency,” said Newark Mayor Corey Booker. “Why do we tolerate a world where children, born with God’s genius, are going to school in environments that are not nurturing that genius and manifesting the divine within them?”

Download the PDF.

20/20 Vision for Schools & NYC Leadership Center Launch Event

September 20, 2008 @ Christian Cultural Center

Here’s the session that officially launched 20/20 Vision for Schools during the NYC Leadership Center Launch Event on Saturday, September 20, 2008: “The Power of Promise: Empowering Emerging Leaders.”

+ Part 1, Gary Frost (17:02 mins)

+ Part 2, Allan Houston (9:28 mins) (Yes, that Allan Houston, former NBA All Star member of the NY Knicks and Olympic gold medalist; and yes, he’s attempting to come back from what everyone believed was a career ending injury beginning this week at Knicks training camp.)

+ Part 3, Jeremy Del Rio (25:55 mins)

Listen Online

Download the Joshua Paradox powerpoint to get the full impact of Part 3 (Note, the online powerpoint includes slides not covered in the speech). We also watched this video during my time.

Courtesy: Christian Cultural Center and The NYC Leadership Center

Here are some initial thoughts and a synopsis of two launch events in three days.




1) The New York City Leadership Center’s Executive Forum
“An Urgent Appeal to Engage a Generation At-Risk: Helping Everyone Reach Their Highest Potential,” Thursday, September 18, 12-5 pm, at The Cornell Club

Hosted by:

• Hon. Dr. Wilson Goode, former mayor of Philadelphia and president of Amachi
• C. William Pollard, former CEO of ServiceMaster and chairman of FairWyn Investment Co.
• Dr. Frances Hesselbein, former CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA and chairwoman of Leader to Leader Institute

Convened by:

• The New York City Leadership Center

Presenters included:

• Hon. Cory Booker, Newark Mayor
• Rev. Dr. Floyd Flake, Pastor of Greater Allen Cathedral and former US Congressman (D-NY)
• Hon. Dr. Wilson Goode
• C. William Pollard
• Dr. Frances Hesselbein
• Jeremy Del Rio, architect of 20/20 Vision for Schools
• Edward Tom, principal of Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics
• Peter Vanacore, executive director of the Christian Association of Youth Mentoring
• William Collins, executive director of the National Church Adopt-a-School Initiative
• Mark Goldsmith, president and CEO of Getting Out and Staying Out
• Dr. Larry Acosta, president of Urban Youth Workers Institute

Participants:

• 120 Executives Representing Religious, Business, Government and Social Sectors to Collaborate to Address a Generation At-Risk
• Participants include representatives of the Geneva School, United Federation of Teachers, Teach For America, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Cornell University, New York University, Deutsche Bank, M&T Bank, Salem Communications, Dow Corning Corp., Princeton Theological Seminary, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, American Express Business Travel, The West Paces Hotel Group, World Vision, Latino Pastoral Action Center, hedge funds, and more.

Format

In keeping with our theme – “An Urgent Appeal to Engage a Generation At-Risk” – we structured the program into four parts.

The first part laid the framework for the rest of the afternoon. In their introductory remarks, Mayor Wilson Goode and Jeremy Del Rio made the case for the urgency of the appeal by describing the risk factors confronting young people in 2008. Hon. Goode focused on the national crisis and Del Rio emphasized the dynamics in New York City, while also putting flesh and blood on the stats.

Next, a panel facilitated by Mr. William Pollard explored how the panelists are empowering young people to overcome the various risk factors in their unique contexts, as well as recommendations for how they, and the other guests, can collaborate for scalable impact.

The heart of the gathering was the table discussions facilitated by Ms. Frances Hesselbein. The audience consisted of experts in their respective fields, including business leaders, youth specialists, educators, and foundation executives. The round tables solicited their collective wisdom to find common cause for future collaborations for exponential effectiveness in New York City and beyond. We will post the table questions separately as discussion questions in the 20/20 FaceBook Group. Join the group today so you can weigh in.

Finally, Dr. Larry Acosta captured the day’s recommendations and proposed workable next steps for a scalable engagement strategy. Rev. Gary Frost concluded with specific suggestions for how the NYCLC can serve an ongoing conversation.

Jeremy Del Rio will be working with a team of contributors to collate the findings and recommendations into a White Paper and action plan consistent with 20/20 Vision for Schools.

2. The Launch Event
Saturday, September 20, 2008 @ Christian Cultural Center

Fifteen hundred church leaders attended the launch of The New York City Leadership Center and 20/20 Vision for Schools. Pastors Rick Warren and Dr. A. R. Bernard headlined the event, and sandwiched between them was a session co-facilitated by Pastor Gary Frost and Jeremy Del Rio called, “The Power of Promise: Empowering Emerging Leaders.”

Pastor Gary contrasted Moses’ investment in Joshua with Solomon’s lack of investment in Rehoboam. Del Rio introduced the concept of the Joshua Paradox (“Moses groomed Joshua and others to lead in his absence, but Joshua’s generation failed to reproduce the investment — and their children and grandchildren paid a steep price”), and from there focused on the failure of successive generations to invest in the education of our children. Against that backdrop we launched 20/20.

If you haven’t already done so, register your church today.

Some have asked me about the relationship between 20/20 Vision for Schools and the New York City Leadership Center. Officially, 20/20 Vision has launched as a joint venture between the Coalition of Urban Youth Workers, the local network of youth workers who conceived and birthed the plan called 20/20, and the NYCLC. At the executive forum, The NYCLC described their interest in 20/20 this way:

The New York City Leadership Center has embraced education reform through 20/20 Vision for Schools as its first initiative because investing in future-oriented, emerging leaders insures leadership for generations to come; and transformational leadership requires engaging critical social issues with meaningful solutions.

20/20 Vision begins with the idea that New York City public schools can and must be transformed within a single generation of students, so that first graders in September 2008 – who are the graduating high school class of 2020 – reverse decades-long, chronic under-performance. We seek to mobilize grass-roots community partners to reject status quo failure and fight for our students’ future.

Related

+ Download launch weekend PowerPoints
+ Event photos coming soon

The New York City Leadership Center Executive Forum , 9/18/08

+ Hon W. Wilson Goode, “Children and Youth in Crisis in America” — Includes extensive statistical research and demographic data about the plight of young people in America, especially the urban poor.

+ Jeremy Del Rio, “An Urgent Appeal for a (ge)N(er)ation ‘At Risk’” — Reminds us of the people behind the numbers. Puts flesh and blood on young people and those who reach them, with particular emphases on educational injustice and New York City.

The NYCLC and 20/20 Launch Event, 9/20/08

+ Jeremy Del Rio, “The Joshua Paradox: Empowering a (ge)N(er)ation ‘At Risk’” — The second half of “The Power of Promise: Empowering an Emerging Generation” general session co-led by Rev. Gary Frost with an appearance by Allan Houston.

Bonus Photo

How one church adopted a public school. More pics like this here.

1.  Register your church today.

2.  Attend the New York City Leadership Center launch event on September 20 (Brooklyn site only).

3.  Enter The Matrix.

Saturday, September 20, 2008
“Spiritual Leadership in the
Global City” Launch Event!

GROUP RATE:
Register a group of 25 or more for the discounted rate of $50 per person!
Call for details: 718-721-2626 x219. Register by September 8th.
INDIVIDUALS:
$75 per person if you register by September 8th (rate goes up to $100 afterward). Fee includes lunch, leadership book and conference materials. Register online at www.NYCLeadership.com .

Session Topics
Rick Warren – 40 Days to Regional Transformation
Jeremy Del Rio & Gary Frost – The Power of Promise: Empowering Emerging Leaders*

A.R. Bernard – The Power of Christ in Culture*

David Ireland – The Power of Christ in Culture**

Frances Hesselbein & Harry Tucker

- The Power of Intentional Leadership**

*Brooklyn Location Only **Ocean Grove Location Only

Speaker Photos Partner Logos
Sponsor Logos
Speaker Headshots